Report Summary

Period covered: 03 August - 30 August 2025

3 minute read

Note: This report summary is one or two months behind the current month as standard reporting practice. The content is indicative only and incomplete with certain data undisclosed. Become a member to access this data or take out a free 30 day membership trial now.

Food & Grocery Sales

Food and Grocery sales rose by xx% year-on-year in August, compared with a xx% rise a year ago. Growth remained primarily price-led, with volume gains harder to achieve as households kept budgets under tight control.

Key drivers and category performance

Warm weather in the first half of August and the school holidays supported seasonal categories. Barbecue lines, chilled drinks and ice creams saw strong sales, while picnic and on-the-go ranges performed well as families took advantage of fine conditions. Later in the month, unsettled weather curbed momentum, encouraging more frequent top-up shops with smaller baskets.

Back-to-school preparations added to demand, particularly for packed-lunch items, snacks, and easy meal solutions. However, trading up into premium lunchbox products was limited, with many households seeking value lines.

Promotions played a central role. Around a third of grocery spend went through discounts or loyalty-linked pricing, with multi-buy deals and meal-for-tonight offers proving effective. Nielsen data highlighted that “dinner for tonight” missions accounted for one in five grocery trips, favouring fresh produce, chilled meat and convenience-led categories.

Discounters remained the clear winners in channel share, with Aldi and Lidl both reporting double-digit sales growth. Ocado and M&S also performed strongly, supported by higher-income households maintaining demand for premium ranges and online convenience. In contrast, Asda continued to lose share, pressured by overlap with value-driven shoppers defecting to Aldi and Lidl.

Shopper behaviour

Shoppers cut back on dining out, shifting more spend into supermarkets for home-based meals and small indulgences. Frozen favourites such as pizza and fish fingers saw strong demand, alongside chilled ready meals and premium own-label ranges.

NIQ reported visits up xx% year-on-year but average basket size down xx%, showing tactical shopping behaviour: frequent top-ups, deal-hunting and tightly managed spend.

Trading down remained visible. Own-label lines grew ahead of branded in several essentials, although Kantar data suggested brands regained momentum in categories like soft drinks and confectionery where promotions were more aggressive.

Footfall patterns

Supermarket visits rose, supported by school holiday shopping and seasonal events. Convenience trips increased as families sought quick top-ups, while larger-format stores benefited from back-to-school missions.

Market dynamics

Competition intensified as the major grocers leaned further into loyalty mechanics to protect volumes. Tesco extended its Clubcard Prices campaign, Sainsbury’s promoted Nectar Prices across fresh and ambient staples, and Morrisons deepened multi-buy deals. Discounters, meanwhile, held pricing discipline, maintaining their clear price advantage.

Outlook

Food and Grocery remains a sector defined by resilience, but the growth is price-led rather than volume-driven. Seasonal demand will fade into September, leaving value lines, meal solutions and promotional mechanics to do the heavy lifting.

The competitive intensity among the major grocers will only sharpen as discounters consolidate share gains and the Autumn Budget looms. Retailers face the challenge of defending volumes without eroding already thin margins, with loyalty-linked pricing set to remain the key battleground into the Golden Quarter.

Take out a FREE 30 day membership trial to read the full report.

UK Grocery Market Share (12 weeks to 10 August) | Note: green denotes share gain, red denotes share loss.